Organisations

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Heritage Research Bursary

The Hambledon Heritage Society was established to ensure OUR VILLAGE heritage is understood, documented and appreciated by current and future generations.

Many village residents have supported the aims of the Society, with important contributions such as the compilation of the village scrapbook, publication of booklets and articles plus of course the popular speaker’s presentations at the Annual General Meeting, with topics ranging from dendrochronology, WWll memories through to famous residents and associated village houses.

The Society continues with its programme of research activities but is now wishing to encourage, new, interested Researchers to add to this programme, by offering two, Heritage Research Bursaries of £100.00 each for 2017-2018.

These Bursaries are designed primarily to attract young Researchers, who are in full or part time education, are normally Hambledon residents or progeny of current residents and are interested in conducting village heritage research, selecting a topic of their choice. However, research has no age limitations.

Examples of such topics could be; glass manufacturing, the workhouse, why a two-centred village?, the lime kiln and its uses etc. but new and innovative topics would be welcome.

To apply for one of the research Bursaries or just to make an enquiry, please write to or call Stephen Maycock, a member of the Hambledon Heritage Society committee who will be pleased to discuss the Bursary programme in more detail.

[email protected]  or 01428-682230.

For further information regarding the Hambledon Heritage Society and its activities please contact, Ross Kilsby,  Chairman, 01428-685622.

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Memorial obelisk on Hydon’s Ball Listed By Historic England

The obelisk on the flank of Hydon’s Ball, which commemorates the lives of two brothers who died in the First World War, has been given a Grade II Listing as a structure of special interest by Historic England.

The Listing gives protection to the monument and official recognition of its architectural and historic significance.

It is one of more than 2,500 memorials to the fallen that Historic England is listing as the nation remembers the 100th anniversary of the 1914-18 Great War. More than 740,000 military personnel from the British Isles alone died in the deadly global conflict.

The obelisk commemorates Second Lieutenant Laurance Robertson, aged 36, King’s Own Scottish Borderers, who was killed in action during the Battle of the Somme on 30 July 1916, and his brother Captain Norman Robertson, 40, of 2nd Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, who died in a military hospital in Hanover on 20 June 1917.

Our photograph below shows the obelisk following the heavy snowfall in November 2010, two weeks after Remembrance Sunday.

Snow Nov 30th 2010 (12)

It was erected as a result of a bequest to the National Trust in the will of their eldest brother William, who died in 1937. The Trust already owned much of Hydon’s Ball and the bequest required the purchase of a small plot of land on Hydon Heath and the erection of the monument. This was completed in 1959.

The obelisk can be found beside the footpath below the summit on the south-west slope of the hill. It is easily reached from the lower end of Church Field, through the kissing gate, turning right to the little pumping station and then following the path up hill to the left. Many villagers leave poppies on the memorial around the time of Remembrance Sunday.

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Oral History Project

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Hambledon Heritage Society has assembled a range of audio and video recordings of villagers.

Recordings from the Heritage Society AGMs:

2024 AGM. King George V Hospital and St. Thomas’ Hospital History
2023 Hambledon Common – restoring the heath

Norman Gravestock – Curator of Oakhurst Cottage of the National Trust

Norman Gravestock Audio recording and transcription >

Mr Milligan, son of F. E. Milligan, former Headmaster of Hambledon School:

Olive Thornton’s video of the German Airman rescue from 1942:

The full story is detailed here.

Joan Vickery on her life living in Hambledon:

Louis de Bernieres on his formative years living in Hambledon:

Recordings from a “Night to Remember” 2009:

The Heritage Society assembled for their 2009 AGM in the Village Hall – the theme was a “Night to Remember” – memories of living in Hambledon during the 1940’s.  A number of guest speakers were invited, and recordings of their stories are included here for you to listen to

Olive Thornton and here wartime rescue story:

Muriel Campbell:

Rosemary Arnold:

Marilyn Wilkes:

Terry Price:

May Denyer:

Colin Denyer:

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Love living in Hambledon and want to help the community?

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The Hambledon Community Fund is looking for volunteers who love living in Hambledon and would like to help the community. If you have
  • suggestions for an event
  • can help with organisation
  • have thoughts on where the fund might allocate a grant
  • or how we can improve anything

Please contact Julie for a chat  on 07768033611 / [email protected].

No long term commitment is necessary.

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Hambledon’s newly re-vamped community website

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You may have noticed a new look and layout to www.HambledonSurrey.co.uk.  This is the look of the re-launched website after some substantial changes to the platform that underpins the workings of the site.  The Website Development Team, along with a new volunteer from Hambledon resident Jon Petersen, have been working on migrating the website to a new design and publishing system. After 7 years the old Joomla software was not able to be updated and was proving difficult to keep secure and efficient.  We have now migrated to WordPress software which is a popular and more modern platform.

It brings significant benefits –

It is more intuitive and easier for residents to add content, articles, events, photographs

It has a greater flexibility for design changes to the look and function of the site

It integrates well with Twitter & Facebook.

It allows residents to Subscribe – they are sent emails when News is added.

Residents can add Comments to many articles.

It is easier to upgrade to combat potential hackers.

It has a number of added functions such as galleries, forums, and Twitter feeds

Finding volunteers to help contribute to the site may be easier as WordPress is a popular platform.

Over the next few weeks we will be showing how these new features will work.  In addition we will be offering one-to-one training to  residents who have expressed interest in adding articles and updates to the site.  In the meantime, take the first step by following us on Twitter or Facebook or Subscribe by email – see the blue buttons and options in the righthand column.

For a video overview:

The Web Development Team

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Almshouse Project completed

Sunday, 20th September saw the finalisation of this project with the opening of the second almshouse. The project was started over two years ago by Andy Falk and his appeal for donations. The funds were found and we now have two modernised dwellings for the benefit of Hambledon residents. This was celebrated with a party and the ribbon was cut by Audrey Monk.

P.J.Underwood
 
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Presentation of Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service to Hambledon Village Community Shop

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This Saturday (September 19th), at a ceremony beginning at 11.30am, volunteers who have helped run Hambledon Village Shop and Post Office for the past 23 years will be presented with The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.

Cynthia Miller, who has been a stalwart helper throughout this period, will receive the award on behalf of all volunteers from Gordon Lee-Steere DL, chairman of the county’s Queen’s Award panel. Other guests include the chairman of Surrey County Council, the Mayor of Waverley Borough Council, the High Sheriff of Surrey and the chairman of Hambledon Parish Council.

The shop was rescued from closure by villagers in 1992 and is now one of the longest-running community stores in the country, vital to the wellbeing of Hambledon.

qavs300In recognition of this achievement, and of the hard work put in by volunteers over the years, the Queen’s award, which has an equivalent status for groups as the MBE has for individuals, was announced earlier this year. It is the highest honour given to volunteer groups.

For security reasons attendance at the ceremony is by invite but villagers are welcome to gather outside to help celebrate an important occasion.

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Play Cricket For Hambledon – New Players Welcome

altHambledon Cricket Club has been busy preparing for the 2015 season and is seeking more players to join its league and friendly teams and also more juniors.

Helpers are also required to coach the junior members and to umpire matches and score for both senior and junior teams.

Hambledon Cricket Club has one of the most picturesque grounds in the county and is a lovely place to play village cricket.  Players and spectators alike will enjoy a visit to the community-run Hambledon Village Shop, which overlooks the cricket green.

Junior coaching sessions take place on Saturday mornings and Monday evenings.  The first team plays competitive matches in the local Village League and the Friendly XI has a more relaxed approach.

More details about the club can be found at www.pitchero.com/clubs/hambledonccsurrey

For further information please phone Tony Strudwick on 01483 428564

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Oakhurst Cottage reopening

Oakhurst, the National Trust-owned 16th Century farm labourer’s cottage, reopens next Wednesday (April 1St) after six months of restoration and repairs.

The process has unearthed much new and fascinating information about the history of the cottage, a remarkable survival of a largely-unaltered humble agricultural worker’s dwelling into 21st Century Surrey.

As usual, village volunteers will be responsible for showing visitors around the cottage and have been briefed on the restoration and research. Even those who have viewed the property before will find it worth another visit.

altFrom its beginning at the end of the 16th Century the little cottage has survived, not without alterations, but substantially much as it would have appeared to Hambledon residents 200 years ago.  It has been furnished in the manner of a mid-19th Century farm labourer’s home and provides an authentic impression of rural working class life of the time.

The cottage was given to the National Trust in 1954 by the Allfrey sisters, who let it out to tenants Elsie and Ted Jeffrey. Elsie died in 1978 and Ted continued to live in the cottage until he died in 1983.

Its un-modernised state gave the National Trust the idea of opening it to the public. Since 1985 Hambledon volunteers have formed a rota to show people around by appointment.

Last autumn the National Trust embarked on extensive renovations using specialist craftsmen and women. Sagging roof timbers were repaired or replaced and damaged plaster was attended to using traditional methods of lime plastering.

At the same time the National Trust undertook research in Oakhurst Cottage’s history, producing a timeline that is now contained in a pamphlet available to visitors. The work was overseen by NT curator Sarah Woodcock and the research was carried out by Sophie Clarke.

The traditional cottage garden is currently being restored by Matt Phelps, gardener at the nearby National Trust property, Winkworth Arboretum.

Oakhurst Cottage is open on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturday and Sundays between 2pm and 5pm from April to September and until 4pm in October. It is also open on Bank Holiday Mondays.

Advance booking is required by telephoning 01483 208936 or emailing [email protected]

Further details can be found at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/oakhurstcottage

and on our village website, with a comprehensive gallery of photographs of the restoration and the interior of Oakhurst.

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Hambledon Heritage Society

The Society promotes and encourages the study of the history of the Parish of Hambledon.  It encourages the conservation and preservation of buildings, memorials, antiquities, memorabilia, records, manuscripts and pictorial material relating to the Parish of Hambledon.The Society owns photograph albums going back over 100 years which are kept up to date.  These are displayed at village events, and are available to Hambledon residents to borrow. The Society organizes an annual lecture on a relevant topic each spring.

 Committee:
Chair: Stephen Dean, e-mail: [email protected]
Secretary: Nessie Alexander, e-mail:  [email protected]
Treasurer: Helena Hockridge, e-mail: [email protected]

The Hambledon Heritage albums are now housed in the Sun Room at Cobblers, which means that they can be accessed by anyone interested in finding out more about the history of our village and the personalities who contributed to it. Please let Jane Woolley know if you would like to visit and browse – 01428 684213 or [email protected]. The postal address is Cobblers, Woodlands Road, Hambledon, Godalming, Surrey GU8 4HL.

Hambledon was one of the contributors to the Women’s Institute Scrapbook competition in 1952. It is made up of ‘scraps’ collected and given by Hambledon residents and was produced and maintained by Mary Parker, who lived in the village (and remained there all her life). It was kept at the village Post Office and was available for loan. By 1997 it was showing signs of wear and tear so a Hambledon Heritage Exhibition was organised to raise money for a Mary Parker Memorial Fund which enabled the Scrapbook to be conserved and re-bound.

The interest which the 1998 Exhibition evoked and the material that was contributed to it awakened a realisation that there was an on-going need for village memorabilia to be retained and recorded. This led to the establishment of the Hambledon Heritage Society, one of whose roles is to compile and maintain a meticulous collection of photographic and printed memorabilia which are contained in the Hambledon Heritage albums.

Visit http://hambledonsurrey.co.uk/scrapbook/ if you would like to look at the digitised version of the Scrapbook.

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Click the banner above to listen and view.

The Hambledon Heritage Society is also proud to announce the publication of the first part of their Oral History Project:  video and audio recordings of villagers’ stories recounting life in the Hambledon during the 1940’s.

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"Outstanding" Rating For Hambledon Nursery School

Teaching staff at Hambledon Nursery School can enjoy the summer break in the knowledge of a job well done after the government’s inspection body Ofsted awarded it an “outstanding” rating.

All schools are visted periodically by Ofsted inspectors and judged as either Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate. Hambledon Nursery School had been judged as outstanding following previous inspections.

Staff knew that another Ofsted inspection was due but had no advanced knowledge of when it would take place. In the event the inspectors visited in June and the report is now available online at

www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/CARE/EY472201

Open the page and find the link to a PDF document headed Early Years Register inspection report.

Nicola Collett, head teacher, said that staff and parents were delighted with the outcome. She said the report highlighted the professionalism of teachers and how engaged children were in their learning.

The school was originally the village state primary school. When it closed in the 1980s residents were determined to see it remain at the heart of the community as a place of learning.  A campaign led to the acquisition of the Victorian school house complete with playground and its reopening as a nursery school run as a business by a charitable trust. It caters for children aged 2 to 5 and retains its strong links with the village, the church and the parish council.

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Roundup of events in Hambledon

A busy week of events in Hambledon, including the fete, mid-summer dance and Viewmap unveiling, has culminated with the opening of the refurbished Almshouse.

One of the pair of almshouses in Malthouse Lane has been extended and modernised. No 2 has a new kitchen, en-suite bathroom, a larger living room, under-floor heating, double-glazing, fire alarm and sprinkler system and insulation.

altThe opening ceremony was performed by Audrey Monk, clerk to The Trustees of the Almshouses, who has written a history of the buildings.  They were built in 1907 and, more than 100 years later,  both were considered to be in need of upgrading to bring them up to 21st Century standards.

No 2 became vacant when John Givens moved out two years ago and Andrew Falk, chairman of the Trustees, launched an ambitious fund-raising scheme to help finance the work, which has cost in the region of £100,000. The majority of the work has been undertaken by local builder Mike Coates.

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